Still A Cloud Over Meriden Police

A year ago, so-called independent investigator Thomas V. Dailey, a Hartford attorney and former federal prosecutor hired by the city of Meriden for upward of $60,000 to look at problems in the police department, reached some odd conclusions.

He reported that the weight of evidence did not support claims by some fellow officers that Officer Evan Cossette used excessive force on several occasions in making arrests or that he was given favorable treatment because his father, Jeffry Cossette, is police chief.

A federal jury in New Haven has made short work of at least a part of Mr. Dailey's conclusions. The verdict answered some — but not all — of the questions plaguing Meriden's police department.

After less than three hours of deliberations, the jury found Evan Cossette guilty of using unreasonable force on prisoner Pedro Temich and then obstructing justice in an effort to cover up his actions.

Anyone who's seen the video of the officer shoving a much smaller, drunk and handcuffed Mr. Temich into a jail cell should not be surprised at the verdict. The shove caused the prisoner to fall backward, hitting the back of his head on a concrete bench. It required a dozen staples to close the wound.

Mr. Cossette faces up to 30 years in prison. He had been on desk duty since being indicted last year, but had the good sense to resign from the force after his conviction.

The police department will be better off without the young Mr. Cossette, a controversial figure who was the target of other excessive-force allegations and who, testimony shows, was indeed given special treatment.

Even without him, the department remains divided. The federal grand jury is said to still be investigating. Internal affairs probes are still underway. The controversy has generated several civil lawsuits. Through it all, the city has not yet seen the wisdom of instituting a nepotism policy that would keep father and child from serving together in the same department when one of them is chief. Such a policy might spare Meriden heartache and expense in the future.

And, although Meriden's political leadership seems to have rallied around Chief Cossette, one wonders whether the department wouldn't benefit from new leadership.